Feed for drill-spindles.



E. K. MORGAN & H. B. NEWTON.

FEED FOR DRILL SPINDLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 15, I915.

Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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lnflenio rs: EzferefieKA/[organ Harry B. $071 E. K. MORGAN 6: H. B. NEWTON. I

FEED FOR DRILL SPINDLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 15. 1915.

Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Ei/reiielfMorgdn THE COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH .C0-. WASHINGTON, D. c

EVERETTE K. MORGAN AND HARRY B. NEWTON, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO ROCKFORD DRILLING MACHINE COMPANY, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, A CORPO- RATION OF ILLINOIS.

FEED FOR DRILL-SPINDLES.

Application fi1ed March 15, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, Evnnn'rrn K. Mon- GAN and HARRY B. Nnw'roN, both citizens of the United States, and both residing at Rockford, Winnebago county, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeds for Drill-Spindles, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention has reference to certain improvements in feeds for drlll spindles, and has reference particularly to a construction whereby the mechanism may be set so that the feeding operation will be automatically discontinued after the spindle has been lowered the desired amount. By this arrangement, assurance is had that the drilling operation will not proceed beyond the desired point, and the machine operatoris largely relieved of the necessity of constantly following the operations of the machine. Devices of this general nature are disclosed in the prior art, as, for example, in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 1,119,625, issued December 1, 1914, on the application of Robert Milme. In the construction disclosed in that patent, the tripping action is effected by means of a movable or adjustable block mounted on a rotatable member, the rotation of which is effected 'to the downward movement of the drill spindle by means of a gear connection. In the present case, the adjustable block or member is to be directly connected to the spindle, or to the spindle sleeve, so that a more positive connection and more definite relationship is obtained between the downward movements of the spindle and of the tripping block.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a construction in which the aforementioned relationship may be secured, so that the movements of the tripping block will directly follow the downward movement of the spindle, or spindle sleeve, without the interposing of a gear connection.

In the usual construction of spindle feed, the worm is swingingly mounted with respect to the worm gear, so that the worm can be meshed with or unmeshed from the worm gear by raising and lowering it a slight amount on its pivoted mounting. It .is customary to provide a locking device which will lock the worm in its raised position during the continuation of the feeding operation, the feeding operation being dis- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 1%, 1916.

Serial No. 14,532.

continued by a disengagement of the lock. After continued use, the parts frequently become worn to such an extent that the worm will not stand at the correct elevation when locked in raised position, so that the worm and gear do not properly mesh with each other.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable connection between the worm and the locking device, so that the position of the worm can be adjusted according to the requirements imposed by theaforesaid wear.

Other objects and uses will appear from a detailed description of the invention which consists in the features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a side view of a drill spindle feeding mech anism having applied thereto a construction embodying the features of the present in vention; Fig. 2 is a section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, look ing in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail section through the wear take-up adjustment, whereby the worm is always raised to the proper elevation when locked in raised position; and Fig. 4 is a vertical fragmentary section taken on the line 1 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow.

In the several figures, the spindle shaft is designated by the numeral 1. It is driven from the power shaft 5 in any one of the usual manners, the connections between these parts being such that the spindle shaft can be raised and lowered. An auxiliary shaft 6 is connected to the spindle driving mechanism and transmits its movement through the medium of the gear box 7 to the worm gear 8. This worm gear is carried by a swinging sleeve 9 pivoted to the frame at the point 10 in the usual manner. The worm 8 is adapted to deliver movement to a worm gear lland connected to the feed shaft 12 which carries a pinion meshing with the rack 13. This rack is mounted on the spindle sleeve 14: which rises and falls with the rack. The spindle extends through the sleeve and is raised and lowered with the same. The mechanical elements so far described may be constructed in accordance with the well understood practice.

The sleeve 9 has an upwardly projecting mits of a sufficient amount of movement of the sleeve 9 to allow the worm to be disengaged from the worm gear when the worm is dropped. Nevertheless it limits the amount of fall of the worm gear at such time. A lever 18 is pivoted to the frame at the point 19. The inner end of this lever connects with the lug 15 by means of a link 20, so that, when the outer end 21 of the lever is forced down, its inner end will rise and thereby carry the worm into mesh with the worm gear.

Referring to Fig. 2, it will be observed that there is a lever 22 mounted behind the lever 18, and pivoted to the frame at the point 23. The inner end of this lever carries I a roller 24:, and the spring 25 works against til its outer end tending to carry said end toward the lever 18. On its back face the lever 18 carries a trip block 26, which is adapted to engage the under face of the outer end of the lever 22 when said lever stands in the normal locking position into which it is thrown by the spring 25. In this'position, the outer end 21 of the lever 18 is locked down so as to hold up the inner end of said lever and thereby maintain the worm in mesh with the worm gear.

It will be observed that the lever 18 may be released by swinging the lever 22 against the force of the spring. For this purpose, we provide an adjustable trip block which is connected to and travels with the spindle shaft. For this purpose a block 27 is loosely mounted on the spindle sleeve, being adj ustable up and down along the length of the same. The'back side of this block is provided with anotched or cutaway portion 28, which notch accommodates the rack 13. A lock screw 29 extends through the block and engages the face of the rack, and is provided with the operatinghandle-30 by means of which it may be tightened up. When this screw is tightened up, the block 27 is locked at a desired point on the sleeve, but by loosening up the block it may be set into anothervposition with respect to the sleeve. The block 27 is provided with an outstanding lug 31, havinga'beveled under surface 32, which is best shown in Fig. 1. As the sleeve travels downwardly, it carries with it the block and lug until ultimately the beveled portion strikes against the roller 24:, forcing it to one side, thereby swinging the lever 22 and disengaging the locking mechanism. Thereupon the worm will drop of its own weight, and discontinue the feeding operation.

It is frequently desired to disengage the worm manually and without reference to the automatic trip-ofi" mechanism. For this purpose, we have provided a hand lever 33 mounted on the outer end of the lever 18, said hand lever having its inner end 3 1 resting against the outer end of the lever 22. When the hand lever is tilted, the lever 22 is swung, thereby permitting the parts to be disengaged. The inner end of the lever 18 carries the hardened pin 35 which extends through a slot 36 in the upper end of the link 20. This pin has the head 37 where by the link is maintained in operative position on the pinion, while nevertheless permitting certain adjustment movements between the link and pin. A set-screw 38 extends through the upper end of the link and bears against the upper surface of the pin, resting on the same, and thereby sustaining the link on the pin. A look nut 39 may be provided for holding the screw in any de sired position. It will be seen that the elevation to which the worm will be raised is dependent upon the adjusted position of the screw 38, so that, by means of the said screw, the lift of the worm can be adjusted from time to time in order to compensate for wear.

While we have herein shown and described only a single construction embodying the features of our invention, still we do not limit ourselves to said construction. except as we do so in the claims.

We claim:

1. In a device of the class described the combination with the drill spindle, the sleeve surrounding the same, the rack on the sleeve, the feed shaft, the worm gear, the worm, and the swinging support for the worm, of a lever pivoted to a stationary part to swing'about a horizontal axis, a connec tion. from one arm of said lever to the swinging support for the worm, means for adjusting the length of said connection, another lever pivoted to a stationary part to swing about a vertical axis, a part on said last mentioned lever adapted to cooperate with a part on the first mentioned lever to lock the same for the purpose of maintaining the swinging support for the worm in raised position, a spring for throwing the second mentioned lever into locking posi tion, a roller on one end of said lever, and a tripping device adjustably connected to the sleeve and adapted to engage the roller when the sleeve has been lowered the desired extent, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described the combination with the vertically movable drill spindle, the worm gear, the worm, the swinging support for the worm, and the operative connection from the worm gear to the spindle for vertically feeding the spindle, of a lever pivoted to a stationary part to swing about a horizontal axis, a connection from one arm of said lever to the swing ingsupport for the worm, another lever piv- 1, remorse oted to a stationary part to swing about a vertical axis, cooperative parts on both of said levers for the purpose of locking the first mentioned lever in tilted position to maintain the worm in mesh with the worm gear when said parts are cooperatively engaged, a spring for throwing the second mentioned lever into normal locking position, a roller carried by said second mentioned lever, and a trip-off device adjustably connected to the spindle and mounted in position to engage said roller when the spindle has descended the desired distance, sul stantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described the combination with the vertically movable drill spindle, the worm gear, the operative connection from the worm gear to the spindle for the purpose of raising and lowering the same, the worm, and the swinging support for the worm, of a lever pivoted to swing about a, horizontal axis, a link connection from one arm of the lever to the swinging support for the worm, a locking device adapted to engage the lever to lock the same in position to maintain the swinging support in operative position, means for throwing the locking device into said position, a contact connected to the locking device and adapted when engaged to disengage the locking device, and a trip adjustably connected to the drill spindle and adapted to engage the contact when the drill spindle has been lowered to the desired extent, to move the locking device into unlocking position, substantially as described.

l. In a device of the class described the combination with the vertically movable drill spindle, the worm gear, the operative connection from the worm gear to the spindle, the worm adapted to mesh with the worm gear, and the swinging support for the worm, of a member movably mounted tit with respect to the frame of the machine, a connection from said member to the swinging support for the worm, a locking device for engaging said member to maintain the same in moved position for the purpose of holding the worm in mesh with the worm gear, a contact connected to the locking device, and a trip-off member adjustably mounted with respect to the drill spindle and adapted to travel therewith, and adapted to engage the contact for the purpose of tripping the locking device when the drill spindle has been lowered to the desired extent, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the class described the combination with the vertically movable drill spindle, the worm gear, the operative connection from the worm gear to the drill spindle, the worm adapted to mesh with the worm gear, and the swinging support for the worm, of a member movably mounted with respect to the frame of the machine, a connection from said member to the swinging support for the worm, a locking device for the purpose of maintaining the movable member in a given position when said device is locked, means for adjusting the connection from the movable member to the swinging support for the worm to thereby adjust the position of said swinging support when the movable member is looked, a contact on the movable member, and a tripoff device adjustably connected to the drill spindle for the purpose of engaging said contact when the drill spindle has been lowered the desired extent, substantially as described.

EVERETTE K. MORGAN. HARRY B. NEWTON.

Witnesses BRYVZULF VALLE, CHAS. A. TI-IELANDER.

(lopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 01' Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

